


Cat Nap

by stupidfinewriterchick



Category: Final Space (Cartoon)
Genre: Avocato is a light sleeper, Avocato needs love and affection, Friendship, Gary is a heavy sleeper, Gary is a sleep cuddler, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, and lots of hugs, friendship fluff, just a couple of headcanons of mine, slightly shippy, they're both very, touch starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-04 12:30:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14020284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stupidfinewriterchick/pseuds/stupidfinewriterchick
Summary: The Friends have Clasped, trust has been initiated, and Avocato has joined the crew aboard the Galaxy One. And yet Avocato's thoughts still lingers on his son—and on this new and strange human he's befriended. (Immediately follows the events of Episode 2.)





	1. Cuddly

Avocato runs a paw through the fur on his head, slumped forward in his seat as he allows his eyes to focus on nothing—nothing but the stars and emptiness of space beyond the window. 

He had seen his son. He had seen Little Cato! He had been SO CLOSE he could have touched him! Avocato swallows past the thickness of his throat, claws digging into his palms as he clenches his fists. The desperation, anger, guilt, regret, and ultimately sorrow at losing his son again had already blown through him like a hurricane so that now, he feels only numbness and utter exhaustion. When was the last time he had slept? And yet how is he supposed to sleep when his thoughts linger on his son, and wherever the hell he’s supposed to start looking for him?

He pinches the bridge of his nose, leaning back against his chair just as the door behind him opens with a whoosh and Gary bursts into the room, Mooncake trailing eagerly after him. The human’s voice rings out against the ship’s metal walls, effectually interrupting Avocato’s broodings. 

“And THEN—you’re never going to believe this—we all but faceplanted into a hovercar that belonged to none other than—wait for it—MELANIE’S FAMILY!” 

Mooncake lets out a surprised “Ooooooooh!” and wiggles his feet.

“Yeah! I’m not even kidding!” Gary’s eyes are wide and intense as he wildly gesticulates to the little green alien. “It was like a horrifying and hilariously ridiculous coincidence.” 

Gary vaults over the back of the chairs and plops down directly next to Avocato, ignoring all the other perfectly good chairs spread out around them. Somewhat irritated and yet mildly amused, Avocato shifts his weight slightly away from the human, unused to such close proximity to other people. An interesting adjustment for him, seeing as Gary practically knows no boundaries. 

“I mean,” Gary goes on, “I bet I traumatized those poor kids for the rest of their lives!” For a moment he stares blankly out the ship’s window. Then, slowly, an expression of utter horror spreads across his face. He raises his good arm high and sniffs at his own pit. “Oh God!” he wails. “I still need to wash off Melanie!”

The look on his face is so comical that Avocato covers his mouth, choking back a laugh. Gary whirls on him. 

“Hey!” he cries indignantly. “I didn’t see YOU having to hide by climbing into a corpse! Blech! You don’t understand the HORRORS I have witnessed!” He waves his arm in Avocato’s face. “Smell me!”

“Ack! Geez, man!” Avocato exclaims, laughing and shoving Gary away. “Nobody needs to be smelling that! Go take a shower or something!”

Gary plops back down in his chair but is grinning now. He turns instead to Mooncake, bobbing up beside his head.

“You don’t care how I smell, right buddy?” he says with an eager grin. In response, the little green alien lets out an enthusiastic, “Chookity!” before faceplanting into Gary’s chest. 

Gary chuckles and hugs Mooncake in return before gently petting the top of his head. His shoulders slump and, with a heavy sigh, he sinks back into the cushioned part of the chair. His eyes droop and his mouth stretches in a massive yawn. 

“AhhhhhhhHUE?” he slurs, turning his head towards the ceiling, as though the ship’s AI were suspended from somewhere above. “Do we have any extra bedrooms on the ship to accommodate our new passenger?”

Avocato bristles, suddenly feeling very out of place. “Oh, no, don’t bother! I don’t need a room!”

Gary’s head lulls to one side. “Um, yes you do?” 

“I AM AFRAID THERE ARE NO ADDITIONAL QUARTERS ABOARD _GALAXY 1 _,” HUE offers. “THERE IS, HOWEVER, A SMALL STORAGE ROOM THAT COULD EASILY BE CONVERTED—”__

__“No, no!” Avocato cuts in. “It’s fine!”_ _

__Gary’s eyelids drag slowly down and up again, and he barely manages to lift his head to ask, “But where will you sleep?”_ _

__Avocato shrugs. “I don’t mind camping out in here. Honestly, I only need a few hours of sleep max, so there’s really no need to bother with a full room.”_ _

__Gary’s eyes widen dramatically. “But—but you’re a cat!” he cries. “Don’t you guys sleep basically all the time?”_ _

__Avocato throws up his hands. “I told you before, I’m a Ventrexian!” he corrects. “Not a cat! Seriously, on my planet we only require about five hours of sleep over the course of three solar rotations—”_ _

__“Whaaaaaaaaaaaa?” Gary’s mouth hangs limp for a moment as he stares at Avocato with delirious bewilderment. Finally, he turns his gaze forward and tilts his head back against the seat. His eyes are glossy and his new robotic hand trails rhythmically over Mooncake’s back. “That’s so weird,” he slurs. “I used to have a cat once—a big, fluffy gray one that slept all the time. In fact, he liked to sleep in all my towels and leave gobs of cat hair all over the place.” He crinkled his nose in recollection, but a loose grin split his face. “He was a menace. Tried to kill me at least five times."_ _

__Avocato snorts. "Whadja call him?”_ _

__Gary takes a breath to respond, but instead his eyes roll into the back of his head and he sinks even further into the seat cushions, mouth still hanging open as he all but passes out. Moments later, he lets out a light snore._ _

__A chuckle escapes Avocato in surprise. He continues to watch Gary a moment, realizing with a start that after gallivanting across Yarno, nearly getting blown up, falling into open space, and the shock of getting his arm ripped clean off, Gary’s body must be powering down—all that raw adrenaline fizzling out of his system and leaving him in utter exhaustion._ _

__Avocato sighs again and settles down once more, his thoughts returning unbidden to his son. The momentary lightness that had settled over him during Gary’s antics were slowly fading away, leaving room for the sickening numbness to return. He closes his eyes and shakes his head against it._ _

__“IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU ARE THE ONE TO THANK FOR GARY MAKING IT BACK ALIVE TODAY.”_ _

__Avocato startles and sits up straight. “What?” he asks._ _

__“GARY TOLD ME HOW YOU HEROICALLY WENT BACK TO SAVE HIM FROM THE ONE THEY CALL THE LORD COMMANDER AND AIDED HIM IN MAKING IT OFF THE PLANET ALIVE.”_ _

__Avocato can’t help but smirk. “It was more like dumb luck, really,” he replies. “And it was only after I’d...well, after I practically handed him to Lord Commander.” His gaze turns downward as his thoughts flicker back to Little Cato. “I’m no hero,” he mumbles. “I’m just a screw-up.”_ _

__“NEVERTHELESS, YOU BROUGHT GARY BACK ALIVE, AND FOR THAT I AM GRATEFUL.”_ _

__Avocato turns his face towards the ceiling, despite the AI being invisible to him. “You...” he hesitates, unsure of the capacity of AI emotion, if he even had any. “You really care about Gary, don’t you?”_ _

__A brief moment of silence passes, during which Avocato figures the AI attempts to formulate an answer. Then, “MY PROGRAMMED FUNCTION IS TO PROTECT LIFE. AND WHILE HE IS ON BOARD THE _GALAXY 1 _, IT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY TO KEEP GARY IN LINE AND INSURE THAT HE DOES NOT CAUSE ANY MORE TROUBLE UNTIL HIS SENTENCE IS OVER. THIS HAS PROVEN DIFFICULT ON OCCASION, AS GARY CAN BE MOST...WELL, TROUBLESOME. I AM INCAPABLE OF THE TYPICAL EMOTIONS EXPERIENCED BY ORGANIC LIFE FORMS, BUT AFTER FIVE YEARS...I SUPPOSE YOU COULD SAVE I HAVE GROWN RATHER FOND OF GARY.”___ _

____Avocato smiles for real this time and glances over at the human. A peace has definitely fallen over Gary now that he's asleep, looking very much like a child. HUE must be something like his exasperated nanny._ _ _ _

____“Well," Avocato muses. "I suppose he is a pretty decent fellowwwww—”_ _ _ _

____But as he watches in silent horror, Gary shifts in his sleep, turning onto his side so that he rests all his weight against Avocato, squishing his face into his shoulder. Almost instinctively, both the human’s arms automatically reach out and wrap around Avocato’s arm, locking tight._ _ _ _

____“What the—!” Avocato yelps, trying to pull away from Gary’s sleeping form. “Let go, Gary!” He shoves with all his might, but Gary’s grip only grows tighter, his entire body curling around him, almost in a hug. The Ventrexian growls a low warning, but as Gary issues a very loud, very real snore, Avocato realizes that it’s not, in fact, a ploy to initiate more physical contact (as Gary always seems so keen on doing)._ _ _ _

____“OH DEAR,” HUE muses. “MY APOLOGIES, AVOCATO. GARY HAS AN UNUSUAL ABILITY TO FALL ASLEEP ALMOST ANYWHERE. HE IS ALSO QUITE A HEAVY SLEEPER.”_ _ _ _

____Avocato’s ears twitch as he looks at Gary and briefly contemplates shoving him off the couch onto the floor to see if that would wake him. But, with a sigh, he knows that such an act would most likely only succeed in jostling the newly-fused robotic arm that he himself just replaced, and he doesn’t want to cause Gary any more pain. And so, with a huff, he sits back into his chair. “It’s fine,” he growls, ignoring how the circulation in his arm is already starting to dissipate._ _ _ _

____“IT IS NOT SURPRISING,” HUE adds, “THAT AFTER FIVE YEARS OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, GARY WOULD BEFRIEND THE FIRST NON-ROBOTIC CREATURES THAT FLEW INTO HIS PATH.”_ _ _ _

____Avocato blinks in confusion, and it takes a moment for him to realize that HUE refers not only to him, but to Mooncake as well. He glances down again and realizes that the little green alien has somehow managed to wedge himself between them, nestling in the crook of Gary’s arm, even while still wrapped tightly around Avocato's. He lets out an adorable kind of contented purr._ _ _ _

____Carefully, Avocato adjusts into a more comfortable position before closing his eyes and forcing himself to relax. Again, his thoughts are filled with images of his son's worried face and desperate but futile warnings. Where was Little Cato now? Was he hurt? Surely—_ _ _ _

____Gary lets out another snore, causing Avocato's ear to twitch again. No, he can't afford to let himself panic and lose hope now. Not when he's SO CLOSE. And worrying about it isn't going to make the problem get any easier. They're going to find his son!_ _ _ _

_____They._ _ _ _ _

____Gary said he would help Avocato. And for what? All he asked for was Avocato's friendship. The Ventrexian tilts his gaze down to look at Gary's face. How is it that he feels he can trust this human—this ridiculous, idiotic, goofy human, who he only just met and knows practically nothing about? Perhaps, he muses, it's because despite all his eccentricities, Gary is a very genuine person._ _ _ _

____Avocato smiles and, knowing that Gary will not remember it when he wakes, reaches up and ruffles his hair—something he's only every done to his son, when he'd been an Even Smaller Cato._ _ _ _

____As sleep overtakes him, Avocato's head tips over to the side and and lands atop Gary's, and HUE lowers the lights and lets the two sleep._ _ _ _


	2. Fluffy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the Garycato Week on Tumblr, prompt: Fluffy. — Avocato falls asleep and Gary simply HAS to know the truth!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I literally had no intention of writing a follow-up to this, but with it being Garycato week on Tumblr, I wanted to contribute something. (Especially after the horror of episode 6.) Then this idea popped into my head and, well, I couldn’t resist. BESIDES MAKING AVOCATO DO MORE CAT THINGS MAKES ME HAPPY OKAY??? (Also don't take this too seriously, it was just a dumb idea I had and decided to roll with so bear with me.)

They had been playing cards for hours.

I mean, it’s not like there was much else that was fun to do on this gosh dang ship. But cards seemed to be one of the only things HUE considered completely and totally harmless, AKA, “Gary can’t use them to kill himself.” I mean unless he could die of papercuts or something.

Gary was just thrilled to FINALLY have someone to play cards with that wasn’t a robot. It was definitely a great change of pace, that’s for darn sure. Avocato was a great player too and had even taught Gary a new game so that they didn’t end up playing Go Fish all night. And if he was getting bored of playing, well, he never mentioned it. He would just wordlessly shuffle the deck and dealing a new hand of cards.

“GOSH DANGIT!” Gary yells as he begrudgingly hands Avocato his six of spades and Avocato smugly folds his last pair into a neat stack.

“What does that make that then?” Avocato grins. “Seven to two?”

“Seven to THREE!” Gary whines. He throws his hands in the air, causing the last two cards in his hand to go flying. “This is humiliating!” He pushes himself out of his chair.

“You calling it quits?” Avocato asks as he gathers the cards back into a neat pile.

“I’m gonna take a whiz!” Gary growls. “And then I SHALL VANQUISH THEE in a rematch!”

Avocato just laughs.

“Whatever you say, dude,” he says, and begins shuffling the deck once again.

Gary stomps out of the room, Mooncake floating a little ways behind.

As Gary washes his hands after finishing his business, he glances up in the mirror and only just notices his unkempt hair, the bags under his eyes, and the five o’clock shadow grazing his chin. Ugh, how late was it? Gary pops his head into his bedroom to glance at the clock, shocked to see that it was almost oh-three hundred hours.

Ironic how these last couple months of his prison sentence had passed agonizingly uneventful as he did nothing but wait until his sentence was complete. Now, with less than a week to go, the time was flying by. Of course, making not just one, but TWO new friends all in the course of like, two days, made it all that much more bearable.

And so it’s with a smile that Gary re-enters the rec room, ready for another round of cards with his new best friend. But as he opens his mouth to yell at Avocato about how _this_ time he’s gonna kick his tail, the words get stuck in his throat, and he quickly clamps his mouth shut again.

Because there Avocato still sits—well, _slumps_ —with his arms folded over the table and his head resting atop them, fast asleep. A data pad is clutched tightly in his hand, and Gary is just able to make out the tiny print of stars and numbers displayed there.

Oh.

Gary slides into the seat opposite his friend, suddenly feeling a little guilty. Here he was, only caring about playing games and staying up past his designated sleep hours, and all the while Avocato is still desperately searching for his son.

And he was exhausted.

For a long moment, Gary debates whether or not he should wake up his friend to let him go to sleep in his own room, or if he should just let him sleep where he is. He tilts his head to get a better look at Avocato’s face, noting just how peaceful he looks when asleep. It’s a nice change.

One of Avocato’s ears twitches, drawing Gary’s gaze. Little tufts of dark fur stick out at odd angles at the very tip and crawl all the way down to his skull. Avocato has nice fur. It looks so fluffy...so delicate...

Gary blinks very fast and sits up straight, realizing that he had literally been staring at his totally-not-a-cat best friend’s adorable cat ears.

Wait— _adorable_?

Gary shakes his head, trying to rid his brain of such intrusive thoughts. But that just allows room for _more_ terrible ideas to spring unbidden to the forefront of his mind.

Like how he wants to test and see if Avocato’s fur is as fluffy as it looks.

He couldn’t.

Avocato’s asleep though, right? He’d never know!

He _shouldn’t_!

And yet Gary’s already slipping off the glove of his right hand because he has no self-control.

He has to know. He just HAS to!

 _This is a terrible idea,_ he thinks to himself as he carefully…gingerly…holding his breath…reaches forward and touches the tips of his fingers to the back of Avocato’s ears.

And scratches.

And oh. My. God.  

His.

Fur.

Is.

So.

 _Soft_.

Then, to Gary’s utter astonishment, Avocato’s head lulls to the side so that the top of his head fits perfectly against Gary’s palm. A delighted grin splits Gary’s face and he massages his fingers into his scalp. Then Avocato mumbles something and Gary immediately stops, afraid he might have woken him. But with a grunt, Avocato nudges his head into Gary’s touch, and Gary resumes massaging,

And then he nearly jumps out of his skin as a low rumble issues from somewhere deep within his friend. A sound Avocato has never made in all his time aboard the _Galaxy One_ , a sound Gary hadn’t even know him capable of making, and has to shove a metal fist into his mouth to keep himself from squealing.

“Unless you want some metal fingers to match that new arm of yours, I suggest you desist _immediately._ ”

Busted.

With a shriek of terror, Gary all but dives over the back of his seat and out of Avocato’s sight. Mooncake follows after and buries himself in Gary’s chest, as though fearful for his own safety as well. Gary waits a beat before cautiously peering around the chair to look back at his friend.

To his relief, he’s not met with a weapon in his face or even an angry glare. Instead, Avocato now sits upright, leaning forward over the table. His face is concealed behind his hand as he pinches the bridge of his nose, but his ears continue to twitch, tinged pink.

“Sorry,” Gary squeaks.

Avocato doesn’t answer, doesn’t move, and Gary’s first instinct is to panic. Had he just ruined everything? Does Avocato hate him now?

Silence drags on between them.

“Um,” Gary ventures. Dare he say it? “For what it’s worth, that was freaking adorable.”

There was that word again. Since when had Avocato every been _adorable?_

But to Gary’s relief, Avocato just snorts.

“Can we, uh—” Avocato clears his throat. “Can we like…never speak of this again? Like _ever_?”

“Yep!” Gary cries, still crouched behind the chair.

“Great!” Avocato says, jumping up from his. “I’m going to bed.”

He crosses the room in three strides, but pauses at the door, hovering halfway in, halfway out. Finally, he glances over his shoulder and meets Gary’s gaze. His eyes are wide with surprise and...was that embarrassment?

Avocato opens his mouth. Closes it. He looks at the floor.

“Thatwasactuallynice OKAY GOODNIGHT.

The door shuts behind him.

For a long moment, Gary just sits there, staring at the door. Then his faces splits with a grin of his own.

His

Best

Friend

Freaking

_PURRS._


End file.
